Process of preparing masse-cuite.



No. 786,601 PATENTED APR. 4, 1905.

H. ROY. PROCESS OF PREPARING MASSE QUITE.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 27, 1904.

Patented April 4, 1905.

PATENT Qrrrce.

HENRY ROY, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PROCESS OF PREPARENG MASSE-GLHTE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,601, dated April Q, 1905.

Application filed April 2'7, 1904. Serial No. 205,184.

T0 to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY ROY, a citizen of the Republic of France, and a resident of Paris, France, have invented a new. and Improved Process of Preparing Masse-Cuite, which process is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to a new process for boiling down syrups in sugar-works and refineries for the purpose of obtaining massecuite. The process in question has the advantage of enabling masse-cuite to be obtained having very large grains and capable of being produced from syrups concentrated to any desired degree.

The main feature of this process is that the concentrated or non-concentrated syrups are not automatically supplied directly to the vacuum-pan in which the boiling down takes place, but are delivered into pipes connecting the upper and lOWGIPOItiODS-Of such vacuumpan and through which piping liquor circulates from the upper level to the bottom of the vacuum-pan. The syrup supplied thus becomes mixed in such pipes with the moving masse-cuite, and the mixture is subjected to heating. As a result of this arrangement the masse-cuite of smallest density containing the small grains and found in the upper portion of the vacuum-pan is removed in a continuous manner and brought into contact with the syrup, which, being subjected to the action of heat immediately on entering, does not itself produce small grains, but simply feeds those circulating. This mixture is then returned to the lower portion of the vacuumpan which contains masse-cuite of greater density, the greater or coarser grains produced remaining at the bottom of the vacuumpan A, while the parts having smaller density rise in the vacuum-pan and get enriched by another circulation, and so on.

The process in question can be carried out in practice in various ways. An apparatus enabling the process to be practically carried out is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing. The apparatus in question chiefly comprises- First. A vacuum-pan A of ordinary construction with all its accessories such as steam-coils, gages, condensers, air-pumps, &e. a indicates the level of the masse-cuite when the apparatus is full.

Second. A vertical pipe B, open at both ends, arranged within the vacuum-pan and passing at Z with slight friction through the pan-bottom. This pipe is connected at its lower end, by a kind of reversed stirrup shaped to leave the lower orifice oi the pipe free, to a metal rod which can he raised or lowered.

Third. A vertical pipe U, secured at b to the bottom of the vacuum-pan at the point where the pipe B passes through it. This pipe is a little longer than the pipe B, to which it serves as a casing, and it is closed at the bottom end 0, but is provided with a stud"- ing-box, through which the metal rod supporting the pipe B passes.

Fourth. The metal rod D, which when raised or lowered causes the pipe B in the vacuumpipe to which it is connected to more vertically both in the boiler and in its casing 0, so that its upper end is always at a suitable distance from the level a of the masse-cuite in the apparatus. The metal rod in question is operated at its lower end (Z by any mechanical device.

Fifth. A suction-pipe E of a centrifugal pump F, connected to the lower portion of the pipe C.

Sixth. A centrifugal pump F or some other suitable apparatus for pumping the massecuite from the upper part of the pan through pipes B, G, and E and forcing it through a series of heating-tubes of a tubular heater G into the lower portion of the vacuum-pan at H.

Seventh. Aheater G for heating the massecuite during the passage therethrough by means of live or exhaust steam or syrup, according to the circumstances.

Eighth. A driving-gear, such as pulleys and bevel gear-wheels K or the like, driving a vertical spindle I}, arranged in the center of the lower portion of the vacuum-pan at about eight to ten revolutions per minute.

Ninth. A vertical spindle L, supported by a special bracket secured to the bottom of the vacuum-pan and passing through a stuiiiirgbox in the bottom of said vacuum-pan at a point where the discharge-fioor the apparzttus is generally placed.

Tenth. A stirring device M of special shape attached to tho aboveanentioncd spindle, designed in accordance with the shape of the heating-coils for stirring the masse-cuitc in the best possible way, mixing the massc-cuite coming from the heater G with that contained in thelower portion of the apparatus by raising it owing to the helical shape of the said device.

Eleventh. A door for discharging the massecuite arranged at the side at N instead of in the center, where the stirringdevice is situated.

Twelfth. Two valves it and S, whereby the operation can be completed as the mass thickens, under ordinary conditions the stirring device only, without the circulation apparatus, being used. The pipe 13 will be lowered in its casing D to a su f'licient extent to permit of the valve S being closed. As regards the semiliquid mass ren'iaining in the circulation apparatus, this will be collected in a monte-- jus or in any other receptacle and conveyed to the boiler or utilized in some other way.

It will thus be seen that the boiling apparatus for carrying out the process according to this invention is constructed as heretofore with the addition of all the devices described. lt follows therefrom that any apparatus of the old system can easily be converted into an apparatus for boiling down wherein the liquor under treatment is caused to circulate and the feed. is continuous, which apart from other ad vantages will greatly increase the output and the elliciency.

The workingof the apparatus is as follows: In starting, the pipe Bis lowered by means of the operating-rod 1) until its upper end 7) arrives at la that is to say, is flush with the bottom of the apparatus. The syrup is evaporated in the usual way; but owing to the operation of the centrifugal pump the syrup entering through the pipes B andC is returned to the apparatus through the heaterG, which thus contributes to the evaporation. W hen crystals form as the boiling proceeds, the pipe Bis raised by any convenient means acting at (Z in such manner that its top Z) is always at a distance of, say, ten or fifteen centimeters (four or six inches) from the level of the masse-cuite in the apparatus. The liquor taken from the top of the apparatus will therefore be returned to the bottom at T, passing through the pipes 13 (J E, the centrifugal pump l3, and the heater (l, and as it enters it will be distributed by the mixing device h i throughout the whole mass and conveyed into the heatingcoils. Owing to the movement of the mixing device and its shape, the mass will be displaced upward in the apparatus, at least to a certain extent, and the circulatim'i through the heater and vaeijium-pan will be very fast, so that the transmission of heat per unit of surface will be very considerable. The liquor at the top, which is farthest away from the heating-coils and on which the vacuum acts in the most effective manner to disengage steam-bubbles, is generally the coldest and the most liquid, and it is therefore an advantageous feature of the present process that this is always for heating and for conveying to the bottom to produce a more thorough mixture. The attendant will therefore have to watch the apparatus and see that the end Z) of the pipe B is always placed as near as practically possible to the level of the massecuite.

In ordinary apparatus the supply of syrup takes place through one or more pipes, merging into the boiler itself at any desired point. The result is that the mixing does not take place well and is not regular. It is one of the chief reasons of the formation of small grains, especially when concentrated syrups are being boiled down. In the process according to this invention the supply t: kes place through the pipe (1, into which the syrup is introduced. it gets perfectly mixed with the circulating mass during its passage through the centrifugal pump, is strongly heated on passing through the heater (1}, and has all the qualities necessary for incri iasing the grain into which it is delivered. The result of the process thus depends, in two senses, upon method ical supply: I

First. The syrup is uniformly distributed over each particle of the masse-cuite as it passes through the circulation-pipes B C E. All the masse-cuite will pass through them except when its grain becomes fairly large, and then it will have the tendency of not rising to the top for redescending through the pipe B. It is, however, this portion of the mass which will require the least nourishment.

Second. In a circulating or still masse-cuite the lightest syrup and the finest grains come to the top. The greater the height of the masse-cuite in the apparatus the better will be the separation. As that portion of the masse-cuite is taken up by the means described for returning it to the bottom, the feed-syrup will only increase the proportion of light syrup in the presence of line grain. As the mixture will have to pass into the heater G, there will be the probability that the liner grains will be those more nourished and will increase to a greater extent, and this will have the tendency of rendering the grain more uniform.

For the above reasons it will be possible, without causing inconvenience, for the feedsyrup when mixed well with the masse-cuite to have a density approaching very nearly to that of the mother-liquor of the massecuitc that is to say, that it will be possible to carry on the boiling down with much more dense syrups than is done at present, as the feedres s01 syrup being at once heated will be free from any tendency to give fine grains, as in ordinary processes.

The feed-syrup can be introduced into the pipe E at the same temperature at which the boiling is carried on. It willbe suflicient for the purpose to arrange in the interior of the boiler A, beside the heating-coil, acoil through which the feed-syrup will pass before it mixes with the circulating rnasse-cuite.

1 claim 1. The process herein described of preparing masse-cuite, which consists in drawing off liquor of less density from the main body of greater density, mixing it with an additional supply of syrup, heating the mixture, and returning it to the main body of the liquor.

tional supply of syrup to said drawn-oft liquor, and heating the mixture before delivering it to the main body of the liquor.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HENRY RGY.

Witn esses:

EMILE Lrcnnn'r,

HANSON (J. Com 

